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Joseph Harper
Joseph Dean Harper is your quintessential Anti-Hero. Early Life Joseph's parents were Thomas and April Harper. Thomas Harper was born in Seattle, Washington, and had lived nearly everywhere in the United States. His father was an airman who served in the Gulf War as a mechanic. His mother was a stay at home mom, and he had two siblings- a brother, Jerry, and a sister, Kelly. Thomas was a horrible student, and a juvenile delinquent. He was a drug addict, and when he was presented with the choice of either going to jail for his addiction or serving his country, he chose to join the Air Force. April, nee` Scott, was the exact opposite. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, April was the head of her class. She grew up on a farm, with her mother and father, who was studying to be a lawyer. She also had a brother, David. She was intelligent, and talented. She was accepted to the Kansas University and stayed there for two years. When she was 22, her parents lost the farm, but her father was fortunate enough to get a job in Abilene, Texas. Thomas happened to be stationed there, and when she came to visit her parents for a summer, they had a fateful meeting. Shortly after, both Thomas and April decided to move to Austin, Texas. Thomas was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force, for misconduct, and April transferred to the University of Texas in Austin. They were married in 1987, after finding out that April was pregnant, and in 1988, she gave birth to Joseph Dean Harper. They didn't stay in Austin long. As soon as April finished earning her degree in Business, she learned that her mother was dying of cancer. The family moved very quickly. Joseph was about four years old when they moved to Abilene, and enjoyed growing up there immensely. His mother and father both worked all the time, so he was given the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do. In school, he was told that he was special by his teachers. Different. They were all highly interested in him- mostly because of how intense the little boy was. He went through elementary and middle school here, and ran track for his middle school. When he turned fourteen, his home life began to fall apart. His father had been using drugs since he was a teenager, but it had never been this bad. He had started to abuse Joseph, and was eventually caught in the act by April. It was then that he started spending his summers away from home, in Austin, with his Uncle David. His uncle instilled in him his love for philosophy and politics, and also his stiff superiority complex. He would tell Joseph that he was better than everyone else, better than anyone he knew. They spent the whole summer reading, talking, and riding his uncle's motorcycle. When he returned, Thomas was then caught by the police, and was sent to jail for possession of cocaine. That very same night, Joseph's father threatened his mother with violence. April Harper quickly filed for a divorce once he was behind bars. During the divorce, Joseph spent a lot of time with his grandmother. She was dying of cancer, but it didn't stop her from investing as much time as she could in the young boy. He loved her deeply, and when she passed away, he was completely heart broken. After her mother passed away, April took Joseph and moved to San Angelo, which is roughly an hour and a half away from Abilene. She took a job at Verizon there, and began working her way through the ranks. Meanwhile, Joseph was enjoying his high school experience. During the fall, he would run track and participate in the marching band as a snare drummer. When spring came, he participated in the debate program and the jazz band. It was in jazz band that he found his love for guitar. He loved his high school- the San Angelo Central Bobcats - and didn't really want to leave it at all. When he turned sixteen, he was surprised beyond reason when his Uuncle bought him his very own motorcycle. He loved the bike more than he had loved anything else in his entire life, and became attached to it like no other. Unfortunately for him, this is when his powers began to manifest. He had always been a little too arrogant- his mother had blamed it on being an only child, and how teachers would spoil him. It backfired on him extremely. When he was at a track meet in Galveston, he got in an altercation with another runner, and apparently caused a type 2 hurricane, without even realizing it. After he returned home, his powers began to pop up in the strangest places. During a debate match, he increased the humidity of the room to unnerve his opponent, causing him to win several tournaments. While at a football game in El Paso, he increased the barometric pressure to make it rain out the game, because his team was losing and he was rather irate. And while playing the Odessa Permian Panthers? Yeah, he was the one who caused that freak hailstorm. When Joseph realized that he was causing all of these things, he was thrilled. He knew he had been special- everyone had always told him so. He was accepted into Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, on a joint debate-track scholarship. He ruined this rather quickly. He had drank a bit in high school, but he had never been surrounded by so much alcohol in his life. With all the alcohol, came all the partying, came all the girls, came all the fights. It was during one of these altercations that he killed a man on purpose. During his drunken rage, he stirred the heavens into producing a lethal lightening strike right through the guy fighting him. It was the first time he had ever committed murder and known it, as he had accidentally killed at least two people during his fight with the runner in high school, and what bothered him the most was that it hadn't bothered him at all. He rationalized that if the idiot couldn't defend himself, then he didn't really deserve his life, did he? His schoolmates, however, were incredibly afraid of him at this point. After all, he DID cause lightening to strike at will. He was ostracized from the University, and left mid-semester to go back home. He took a job at a local call center there, taking supervisor calls for Capital One. The more he talked to people around the country, the more contempt for them grew in his heart. His mother wasn't helping, either. She had always had high expectations for him, and not going to college had essentially crushed all the respect she had for him. Realizing that there was no way in hell he was going to be content actually going back home, he went to Austin instead, to talk with his uncle, whom he admired, about what he should do. His uncle suggested he go on a trip around the country, if he wanted some adventure. So he did- and he did it however he wanted to do it. Never in his life had he felt like he had so much power before. It was like every problem was instantly solved. He simply stole everything he needed. For the first time in his life, he felt completely in control. No overbearing mother. No life threatening father. No one else telling him what to do. He was free, or was he? Prison It wasn't long until his digressions caught up with him. That's right, he got caught, by none other than The Company. Thrown into the Level 5 Detention Center, away from the world, away from his life, his family, and his freedom, was possibly the worst thing that could have ever happened to him. Joseph spent quite a bit of time with the Company over the years. The first time, he spent the entire time learning how to control his powers. He became accustomed to Rachel Davis's sarcastic comments, and came to the conclusion that his time there was best served planning his revenge. When he did manage to get out, it was during the bomb plot. He used the distraction to escape. DEFT If the bomb had gone off, Joseph would've ended up working for Hurley Garder and AltruCell. He enjoyed his work, as he was mostly just an enforcer, and was possibly the most loyal Special at Hurley's side. He also met Brianna Stewart, with whom he began to have a sort of wretched love affair with. The two were inexorably tied together- he could no more refuse her than she could him. Level 5 In reality, he had been captured shortly after the bombs had went off, and instead of being handed off to Odessa, he was placed in Level 5 this time. Level 5 wasn't all to bad. Rachel had transferred with him, as apparently the head of the Company had gone missing, and it seemed like she had taken a young apprentice to her side- Brianna Stewart. Brianna and Joseph could not resist the urge to be around one another. Because of their shared abilities, it was all that he could do to not want to be near her, let alone actually physically resist her. They spent a lot of time together, and he helped her cultivate her more primal urges, and her powers. The Breakout He had also met someone else at that time, his sister, Grace Harper. Grace convinced him that he did not deserve to be in Level 5, and that he could trust her. A few weeks later, her and Jack Murdock came to his rescue. They busted him out, but in the process Grace had been knocked out by Brianna. He took her to a park, and said his goodbyes. She may be right; He may not be a villain, but he sure as hell wasn't the hero she wanted him to be. The Imperium Hotel He then met up with several other villains in Las Vegas, including Cassandra Marshall. In Vegas, Joe and a group of three others, took over the local Imperium Hotel, which was built on top of the ruins of the Corinthian Hotel owned by Linderman. In the vault they found a wealth of information that helped them easily take over a large part of Vegas, and for a good while, they were considered almost Mafia-esque. The government and The Company both had operations there, and the collision of those two organizations eventually caused all out havoc. Joseph had just started his campaign for mayor, when the government attempted an assassination of him. Company members were in the building as well, and when the bullet was shot, one of the Specials there somehow misdirected the bullet. Joseph, however, still felt it pass by his ear, and began an immediate panic. Once his trigger was flipped, his fear and anger easily brought the entire Imperium to the ground, and killed nearly all the occupants, including several high ranking Government and Company officials. He knew that after that, he couldn't do anything but leave and go into hiding. Unfortunately, his partners all disappeared as well, and so it seemed that an entire crime syndicate was brought down within a day. He spent his time in the middle of the Nevada desert, attempting to get a hold of his abilities. The Aftermath Harper spent an incredible amount of time alone, and had learned that the day he destroyed the Imperium was also the day he destroyed his contempt. Joseph realized that he was so angry at the world for turning its back on him, when in truth, he had turned his back on it. It was only after he received a message from Pulse that he decided to integrate himself into society again. No longer a driven villain, he went back to the now Company owned and rebuilt Imperium Hotel to get a few things, then fled for New York, and participated in freeing Building 26. He then decided to stay in New York City, for a change of scenery, and perhaps a permanent change of character. Building 26 Joseph afterwards became involved with a small group of people attempting to liberate Building 26. Many of them moved on to save the president, but he stayed to help as many people as he could escape the Government instead. 99 Problems However, things never really got better for Joe. He became mixed up with Jade Alastair, and again did whatever he could to mess with the Company. Harper destroyed the Hartsdale generator, destroying everything electrical inside the building. Even though he'd become closer to his sister, Grace Harper, he was sure there wasn't going to be much saving himself from another Level 5 cell. He'd also been attacked by someone named Sam Keaton, and was planning on tracking him down. Hell Unfortunately, the world exploded, and Joe was a casuality. While attempting to save people in New York City, he lost his life. At least, that's what the world thought. Joseph doesn't really remember what happened himself- all he knows is that when he woke up, the entire world was different. Abilities Atmokinesis is the ability to mentally control barometric pressure in the atmosphere and humidity at will, resulting in the change of weather patterns and formation of freak weather conditions. It is the mental manipulation of the atmosphere and weather including inexpert cryokinesis, pyrokinesis, electrokinesis and aerokinesis. The only two he has actually used and can use often are inexpert electrokinesis (in the form of lightening, or electric balls,) and aerokinesis, (in the form of flight or gusts of wind). In many cases, people with this ability can shift the atmosphere and thus generate any natural weather occurrence from fog, mist and rain to hailstorms, blizzards and hurricanes. One with this ability is also usually rendered resistant against extreme weather conditions, or uses this ability to predict, generate, calm or resist any weather condition. Limits Changing the barometric pressure doesn't have much of an effect on him, though it can obviously cause the strangest effects. At this point, he mostly understands what he's doing, but there are still times when he intends to make the air colder, and ends up making it hotter. The lack of control was an extreme deterrent to him before, but he has lost his understanding of safety since his home was destroyed. He possesses inexpert cryokinesis, pyrokinesis, electrokinesis and aerokinesis, but all of that depends on where he is and what he's feeling. Cryokinesis and pyrokinesis are especially hard for him to use, and in fact, he's never been able to manifest either ability in his life. Obviously, though, altering the atmosphere has almost deathly effects on the young man. It is nearly impossible for him to do this without passing out, at this point, and the lack of control is even more prevalent here. He never knows what damage he's going to cause when he does this, so he almost never goes to this extreme unless he is either incredibly pissed off, (which, frankly, he has no control over, ) or his life is in immediate and terrible danger. This is, unfortunately, what happened at the Imperium Hotel. Personality Neurotic Worries about everything from the sky falling down to where his socks are, and then he worries some more. He'll often be caught babbling incoherently to himself, repeating words over as if he's trying to catch up on a thought, biting his nails, tapping his foot, or doing some other physical movement that's highly irritating. He's become better about controlling it as he has gained age, but unfortunately it's a spastic personality disorder that he just can't shake. Sarcastic Cannot open his mouth without sounding like a complete asshole, and he's rather proud of it. His mouth gets him in an incredible amount of trouble, and it seems like even when he thinks he's being nice, someone is going to assume he's being a jerk. It suits him fine, however, as he'd rather everyone feel like he thought they were an idiot, than think he ''was an idiot. '''Arrogant' Full of himself, like most powerful ex-villains, only funnier. it's a great thing to not only think you're amazing, but actually be amazing, and that's exactly how Joseph thinks of himself and his fellow Specials... more or less. there are plenty extra-ordinary folks that he'd be okay with drowning if given the chance. Stubborn Wants everything to be his way, or the highway, and doesn't really care what you choose. What ends up happening, usually, is that he just does what he wants to do anyway even if you do choose the highway. Stubborn and intelligent are never a good combination, and Mr. Harper is an excellent example of why. It means that even when he knows something won't work, he'll continue to try it anyway. (which is the first sign of insanity, by the way.) Logical If his brain were a coloring book, it'd be paint by numbers. Pragmatism should've been his middle name, as he will almost always choose what "makes sense" over "what feels right," which is a trait he finds utterly disgusting. He cannot understand people who "follow their heart," and as he's not even sure he has a soul, doing something because of intuition just seems, well.. illogical. Scatterbrained Joseph is so busy worrying and wondering and, well, thinking, that it's hard for him to remember sometimes what exactly he was thinking about. He often forgets mid-sentence what he was actually saying, which would usually make him look like a fool, and depending on who he does it around, it usually does. A few scattered girls find it terribly adorable, but either way Joseph can't be bothered to care. It's not his fault that his mouth can't keep up with his brain, and he refuses to apologize for it. Trivia * Was a Political Science Major, Philosophy Minor. * Ran track in HS, and College. * Plays the guitar pretty well. * Absolutely loves motorcycles. * Knows the ins and outs of almost every RPG Videogame of all time. * Favorite books are by Chuck Palahniuk. * Mac or PC? Joe uses a Mac. Category:Characters Category:Neutral